General Football Discussion

[DanK]

Success...
Melbourne Victory 2 - Adelaide Utd 0

One from one - first 3 points in the bag :eusa_dance:
http://www.theworldgame.com.au/home/ind ... &cid=74453
Goals:
Muscat (28th min)
New Brazilian signing Claudinho (77th min)

Decent result for us given that Adelaide were minor premiers last season and we hadn't scored against them in the first 3 meetings.

Next week last years Grand Final winners Sydney FC the "glamour" side of the comp. (ie: the team we all hate...well all Victorian's do anyway) :D

[DanK]

Oh yeah...meant to say:
How about a "Ajax USA's Annual "Victory" Rendezvous in Melbourne"????

Give it a month or so. The weather will be sweet, the pubs are great and the football is OK. But most importantly its an excuse to have a few (and the ladies aren't so bad either!) ;)

Its no surprise Melbourne has been voted "World's most liveable city" a few times.

So what do you say??? Its only a 22 hour flight from Amsterdam :yes:

[SE6Ajacied]

Muscat (28th min)

Ah, so that's what happened to Kevin Muscatt! Is Steve McMahon (ex Liverpool player and Blackpool manager) still coaching in Australia btw. I'm sure I read somewhere that was where he had ended up?

[DanK]

Muscat (28th min)

Ah, so that's what happened to Kevin Muscatt!

Yeah. Muscat is here and he's still a tossa. Good for a laugh though and not half bad a player, but he already has his first yellow card from his first game. Apparently he had a barny with one of the new Brazilian signings at half time (Alessandro). Some things never change...

Is Steve McMahon (ex Liverpool player and Blackpool manager) still coaching in Australia btw. I'm sure I read somewhere that was where he had ended up?

Nope. McMahon lasted about 30 seconds in the country (actually i think it was half the season). He was the manager at Perth Glory who were one of the only success stories of the old NSL (National Soccer League).

It was expected Perth would continue this in the new A-League, however they had a poor season on and off the field. Part of the issue was McMahon. Don't think the guy is very popular in Western Australia.

[AjaxPDX]

West Ham in England signed both Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano today (a one-year loan with first option for a permanent transfer next summer). Wow! For a middle of the pack Premiership team, in my opinion this is an amazing bit of transfer business. I mean, each of those players were individually linked to Chelsea, Man Utd, and Arsenal... yet West Ham got them BOTH. Incredible.

[AjaxPDX]

West Ham in England signed both Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano today (a one-year loan with first option for a permanent transfer next summer). Wow! For a middle of the pack Premiership team, in my opinion this is an amazing bit of transfer business. I mean, each of those players were individually linked to Chelsea, Man Utd, and Arsenal... yet West Ham got them BOTH. Incredible.

Small, but significant, update on this. Instead of the loan-then-potential-transfer scenario mentioned above, these two deals are now immediate permanent transfers. Even more incredible.

[Blind3]

Hearing rumour of Roman Abramowicz having some sort of in with MSI .Radio here says MSI , London-based I heard,is a mover and shaker in the Tevez and Mascherano move. Wonder if this is bollocks.

Other rumours c/o Sky's Georgie Bingham ( on Sirius Satelline Radio's daily football show as I write) :

1. Beasley to Man City ;possibly a loan.
2. Gallas for Cole finally happens.Arsenal splash out for Nigel Reo-Coker , available because of Mascherano's arrival.
3. The Huth transfer paper isn't signed yet , c/o Peter Kenyon holding out to see if Gallas goes and holding Huth as cover just in case.

One very interesting deadline for a change.

[Blind3]

Oh, and Dwight Yorke to Sunderland. I guess Keane needs Yorke to tell him where the best night spots are.

[DanK]

Well round 2 this weekend in the A-Leauge and its my boys Melbourne Victory against the "olde" enemy Sydney FC (minus a certain Dwight Yorke).

Last season this game sold out at the modestly sized Olympic Park in Melbourne (around 19,000), so this year the games been moved to the Telstra Dome. This is normally the home of Aussie Rules, so the ground maybe a bit rough, but they are expeciting the biggest crowd for a league game in Australia. Just over 20,000 tickets sold so far. Expectations of 30,000+.

Will be interesting to see if Australia's World Cup fanfare can translate into people watching the local league. Signs are good so far. Last season from memory Melbourne had around 5000 season tickets sold, this year its already close to 10,000.

Can the Victory make it 2 from 2? Bloody hope so. Any sporting event that has Victoria -v- New South Wales is always a tough affair. Time to kick some smart arse NSW butt me thinks. :eusa_dance:

For a small write up on last seasons meetings:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/soccer/me ... 00108.html

[Frans]

NZ Knights 1, Adelaide 0

Last season's table toppers, and this year's pre-season cup winners beaten by the ultimate losing team. Are things finally looking up?

[DanK]

NZ Knights 1, Adelaide 0

Last season's table toppers, and this year's pre-season cup winners beaten by the ultimate losing team. Are things finally looking up?

Hey Frans, congrats :xyxthumbs:

Didn't see the game although I recorded it so may get a chance to watch it later. Super goal I heard as well. You guys nearly have more points already than the total from last year ;)

Anywho...

Last nights Melb - Sydney game was a corker. 3-2. Typical grudge match. 2-0 up and a Sydney player sent off for stomping on Allessandro within 15min. Then 2-1, 3-1 and 3-2. Elbows flying thick and fast and some neat goals in between.

The best part of the night here though was a crowd of 40,000 turned out. This is by far and away the biggest league attendance in Australia. Beating the old record by almost 15,000. What is really encouraging though was the amount of younger kids there. If the sport can keep these guys coming to the games, it really has a chance to finally establish itself as a player in Australia sporting landscape.

If anyone is intersted in this (biased?!? - it fails to mention the questionable penalty AND the clear elbow from Fred) write up from Victory's home page:
http://www.melbournevictory.com.au/defa ... &pageid=71
or from the offical A-leauge site:
http://www.a-league.com.au/default.aspx ... &pageid=11

Frans...next week we play you guys. I think you might actually get something out of this one as well. Here's hoping for a good game. :yes:

[Blind3]

Thank you for posting the A-League website.Will have to see if I can catch a game while in country between 7/11 and 13/11. :xyxthumbs:

[SE6Ajacied]

I think I've found someone who copied this seasons Ajax away shirt....

https://ssl.saintsfc.co.uk/dept.asp?sub ... shopperid=

I saw a this shirt in it's full glory in the paper today but this picture was the best I could find on the web to show everyone else. I think ours is nicer though......

[DanK]

Thank you for posting the A-League website.Will have to see if I can catch a game while in country between 7/11 and 13/11. :xyxthumbs:

Any chance you are in the grand city of Melbourne at this time???

Melbourne have a home game against Perth:
Thursday 9 November 2006
Melbourne Victory FC v Perth Glory FC @ 8.00 PM

Great atmosphere at Olympic Park. Its an old ground which means there is still some sections that have standing room (plans for the new ground are in place) just like the good old days :)
http://www.melbournevictory.com.au/defa ... tadiuminfo

Give me a yell if you can make it.

[SE6Ajacied]

This is a bit old news now but Materazzi has finally revealed his version of the headbut

(from bbc website)

Materazzi breaks Zidane silence

Marco Materazzi has finally explained what he said to Zinedine Zidane before he was headbutted by the Frenchman during Italy's World Cup final victory.

Zidane was sent off for the attack and later claimed he was provoked after Materazzi had insulted his mother.

But Materazzi told Gazzetta dello Sport that Zidane's sister was the subject.

He said: "I was tugging his shirt, he said to me 'if you want my shirt so much I'll give it to you afterwards,' I answered that I'd prefer his sister."

Materazzi added: "It's not a particularly nice thing to say, I recognise that. But loads of players say worse things.

"I didn't even know he had a sister before all this happened."

Materazzi was later handed a two-match ban from world governing body Fifa, while Zidane was banned for three games and fined £3,260.

Zidane, who has since retired from football, has never specified what Materazzi said to him and has refused to apologise to his opponent.

Asked on 12 July exactly Materazzi had said, Zidane would only offer that it was "very personal" and concerned his mother and his sister.

"You hear those things once and you try to walk away," added Zidane. "That's what I wanted to do because I am retiring. You hear it a second time and then a third time..."

[DanK]

...But Materazzi told Gazzetta dello Sport that Zidane's sister was the subject.

He said: "I was tugging his shirt, he said to me 'if you want my shirt so much I'll give it to you afterwards,' I answered that I'd prefer his sister."

:worshippy: classic come back imo

[aveslacker]

...But Materazzi told Gazzetta dello Sport that Zidane's sister was the subject.

He said: "I was tugging his shirt, he said to me 'if you want my shirt so much I'll give it to you afterwards,' I answered that I'd prefer his sister."

:worshippy: classic come back imo

Any idea what language they were speaking? I've often been curious how these people communicate.

[Feest]

Uhm, you may recall Zidane being a Juve player for a vast amount of years.

Italian.

[Philippe]

yes, Italian of course.

[Manneken Pis]

Class, today's homework is as follows:

"Footballers have too much money".
Discuss.

Exhibit A:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6yfhTwSYNs

[afckeeper95]

Class, today's homework is as follows:

"Footballers have too much money".
Discuss.

Exhibit A:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6yfhTwSYNs

Al things said, at least Diddy is hilarious

[aveslacker]

Class, today's homework is as follows:

"Footballers have too much money".
Discuss.

Exhibit A:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6yfhTwSYNs

Al things said, at least Diddy is hilarious

I generally don't like Puffy-Puff-Daddy-P-Diddy, but after watching that clip I have to say that he wasn't all that annoying for a short while.

Wow. I must be getting old.

[Frans]

Frans...next week we play you guys. I think you might actually get something out of this one as well. Here's hoping for a good game. :yes:

Back to reality. 0-3 Loss, and it should have been worse. Melbourne look pretty good, I must admit.

[DanK]

Frans...next week we play you guys. I think you might actually get something out of this one as well. Here's hoping for a good game. :yes:

Back to reality. 0-3 Loss, and it should have been worse. Melbourne look pretty good, I must admit.

The weather was shocking, but considering this I agree I think Victory played pretty well (neat passing etc). Actually feel this is the best of our first 3 games to date. 3 games and 3 wins. Perfect start!

I was a bit surprised how out of the game NZK were actually. They looked quite good in the first 2 games.

[Frans]

Frans...next week we play you guys. I think you might actually get something out of this one as well. Here's hoping for a good game. :yes:

Back to reality. 0-3 Loss, and it should have been worse. Melbourne look pretty good, I must admit.

The weather was shocking,

Well, this is New Zealand we're talking about... what did you expect?

Last year's game vs Adelaide was much worse.

but considering this I agree I think Victory played pretty well (neat passing etc). Actually feel this is the best of our first 3 games to date. 3 games and 3 wins. Perfect start!

I was impressed by Archie Thompson. He was just toying with our defence all day.